C172 pilot encounters a strong downdraft flying below storm clouds at 9;000 ft and looses 700 ft ina...

Attributes
ACN	1027943
Time
Date	201208
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZOA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Airway V113
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15 Flight Crew Total 290 Flight Crew Type 290
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

En route southbound on V113; nexrad weather showed areas of medium precipitation. I was in visual conditions and could see the clouds were just above my cruising altitude. I requested a 20 degree deviation from ATC which was approved. Shortly after turning to deviate away from the medium precipitation; I encountered a downdraft that caused me to lose 700 ft from my assigned altitude of 9;000 ft to approximately 8;300 ft. ATC asked about my altitude and I responded that I was in a downdraft and requested lower. ATC cleared me to descend and maintain 7;000 ft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot encounters a strong downdraft flying below storm clouds at 9;000 FT and looses 700 FT inadvertently. ATC questions the descent then assigns 7;000 FT as requested.

Narrative: En route southbound on V113; Nexrad weather showed areas of medium precipitation. I was in visual conditions and could see the clouds were just above my cruising altitude. I requested a 20 degree deviation from ATC which was approved. Shortly after turning to deviate away from the medium precipitation; I encountered a downdraft that caused me to lose 700 FT from my assigned altitude of 9;000 FT to approximately 8;300 FT. ATC asked about my altitude and I responded that I was in a downdraft and requested lower. ATC cleared me to descend and maintain 7;000 FT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

C172 pilot encounters a strong downdraft flying below storm clouds at 9;000 ft and looses 700 ft inadvertently. ATC questions the descent then assigns 7;000 ft as requested.